Rypro 525

im guessing gone with the wind at 3 hours and 45 min or ben hur at 3 hours and 40 min.

Amadeus

Lawrence of Arabia perhaps.It's exactly 3hrs 47mins.

Wazootyman

I remember reading in Uncle John's Bathroom Reader that there was one movie that was 24 hours long

After a little research, I found the aptly titled "The Cure for Insomnia" at 85 hours

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0284020

Rypro 525

i was thinking morely more mainstream movies.

Get Me Coffee

LOTR extended Ed. is like 3hours and 45min....i think anyone?

Jay G.

Well, now you're starting to qualify your question. Do you want just major studio releases? For what reason do you want to know the answer?

Anyway, the 1925 silent film "Greed" had an initial running time of 9 1/2 hours, although it was cut to 2 hours for it's release.

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0015881


That "Cure for Insomnia" sounds like an odd film. IMDB has some interesting info on it. The only user review has the title "Glad that's over." The user ratings are extremely polarized, with people either loving it and giving it a 10, or hating it and giving it a 1. It seems everyone over the age of 30 hates it. Also, the film seems to do best among people age 18-29, although over half of those viewers still hated it.

If you crammed 4 hours per DVD for it's video release, "Cure for Insomnia" would still take 29 discs.

RevLiver

Well, not counting The Cure for Insomnia, the runner up might be Erich von Stroeheim's Greed. The original 1925 silent film ran for 42 reels and somewhere between 8 and 9 hours. It was supposedly only shown once at this length before the studio hired an editor to cut it down to 2 hours against the wishes of the director. Sadly, the full 9 hour version is believed lost forever.

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0015881

Jay G.

FOTR: EE is 3 hours and 28 minutes including the studio end credits.

It does have charter club memeber credits though, which go on for much longer.

Jay G.

Yeah, I think Greed might fit Rypro's criteria, since it was a mainstream release by a major studio, and it was 'made' as a 9 1/2 hour film, although it was subsequently cut.

Also, at over 9 hours, it beats out Andy Warhol's "Empire," which is a mere 8 hours long:

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0196530

Psychlowne

I think someone should do a marathon viewing of "The Cure for Insomnia" and post a review. No sleep for 3.541 days? I don't think so.

Rypro 525

well since it isnt out on video or dvd, i guess we cant.

CitizenKaneRBud

Hamlet and Gettysburg are both over 4 hours long.

Goldberg74

I post this everytime this question is asked... the "longest" movie in hisotry is...

Brak55

I'm not sure that Gettysburg qualifies as it was meant to be a TV movie. Did they show the full version in theaters (4:21) or a cut down version?

Hamlet clocked in at 4 hours and 2 minutes.

Cleopatra was 4 hours and 3 minutes in it's original version with a supposed director's version clocking in at over five hours.

waskydiver

There's War and Peace (1968) at 390 Min (6.5 hours)

Not exactly mainstream... not exactly released by a major studio... but shoot... just about everyone has heard of it.

Is coming to DVD in December.

calhoun07

I doubt that this really counts, but Lucas considers Star Wars a 12 hour movie in 6 parts.

Re: A Cure For Insomnia.....that will be on DVD when?

Heat

Here is the description for "A Cure for Insomnia": Of course, if it does come out on DVD with a Director's commentary, would anybody sit through it? And the next question would be if Robert DeNiro's character had this movie during the movie "Insomnia", thus he was able to sleep, would that have changed the ending (or the name) of the movie Insomnia?

Goat3001

I don't think I'd buy "A Cure for Insomnia" unless it was released as a special directors cut.

joeydaninja

I once sat through a 5 hour movie called Batang Westside. Well actually, I didn't sit through it. I walked around, stretched, stood in the back. It was actually pretty good. But I'll shoot the director, if he makes another one.

Grimfarrow

The longest film I have ever seen is Bela Tarr's masterpiece, "Satantango". It was 7.5 hours long. It was never shown in any other form except the 7.5 hour version.

And then there is Jacque Rivette's "Out I", which was originally made for TV but then was turned into a 14-hour film.

Eric F

There was this documentary made a while ago about the Polish concentration camps. It was very long and won an academy award. They show it occasionally on PBS.

Can someone name it?

renaldow

Doubtful. Apparently DeNiro's character in Insomnia had seen the movie and was able to sleep again. He slept so well in fact, his entire character and plot points were cut from the final movie leaving only the story between Al Pacino and Robin Williams.

Nick Danger

That would be Shoah. Most people I know managed to watch a few episodes but got worn down and were unable to watch the whole thing.

Eric F

Yes, Shoah, thanks.

According to IMDB it's 9 1/2hrs long. Over the years I've seen bits and pieces of it, and I've think I've caught most of it at this point.
Along with the 1955 Nuit et brouillard (Night and Fog) it's one of the best depictions of the cruelties of the Nazi regime.

I suppose if anything we can be thankfull for is the fact that the Nazis kept impeccable records. Hard to deny something when it's staring you right back in the face.

Heat

540 minutes, available from PBS.org on four video tapes for the "bargain price" of $200.